Leeds United: Leeds head to the Hawthorns after Boro
Leeds United: Leeds head to the Hawthorns after Boro
Transcript
00:00We'll move on. We'll move on to a brief look at the Middlesbrough game.
00:06Yeah, of course, probably by the time this podcast comes out, that game would have been played in the League Cup.
00:12So you might know listening what's happened. We don't yet.
00:18But yeah, it's it's it's as we mentioned last week, it's pretty much as tough as it could be for a League Cup fixture early on, isn't it?
00:26No, that is. Yeah, definitely. But I think, I mean, you know, obviously you want to stay in the Cups and you want to have a cuppa and every fan wants that.
00:32But let's, you know, like, obviously, you know, talking about it briefly, let's be honest about it. Promotion is the main thing this season, like a million times over, no doubt about that.
00:39So, you know, this might come out after the event itself. But the main thing with that game basically is just getting through and coming through unscathed.
00:45I mean, obviously, Daniel Farker talks before the Portsmouth game and it was quite amazing team news.
00:49He said, I think he said it was rare. I think he's used it and surprising in the fact that he had every single player fit.
00:55You know, I mean, which is quite amazing to go into the new season with that. Harry Gray's the only one, like obviously we talked about in the Youngstriker piece on the comeback from a back injury, but isn't expected to be as bad as the first thought.
01:05So the main thing with the Borough one is just coming through unscathed, really, and if they get through, great.
01:09And, you know, but I mean, it's a hard game, obviously, so it's difficult to know how that one will go.
01:13But really, then it's all roads lead to West Brom, which we'll come to now.
01:17And, you know, I mean, it's only two games into the season, so you don't want to go overboard.
01:23I mean, to be quite honest, Daniel, it already feels like a very big game.
01:25Yeah, I think it does. Obviously, as I say, Middlesbrough is big as well.
01:29You've got to think, well, they're a decent side. We've mentioned that on the podcast recently, how I rate them as a football playing side.
01:36They start off with a 1-0 home win at Swansea, a penalty from Emmanuel Laté-Lath.
01:41And you think, well, yeah, I think that game to me seemed very much first game of the season.
01:46If Leeds United against Portsmouth was sort of the extreme of what a first game of the season can be,
01:52Middlesbrough-Swansea was probably sort of the norm in the sense that teams, you could see,
01:57they were still perhaps just coming out of pre-season a little bit and it was a bit slow and a penalty won the day.
02:04So it sort of just shows how perhaps they weren't quite added on that game.
02:08But Middlesbrough still have that quality to come. So that will be an interesting game indeed.
02:13But yes, as you say, after that, at the weekend, Leeds take the trip to the Hawthorns, away to West Brom.
02:19That's another tough game. West Brom were in amongst it last year as well.
02:24And as you say, it's probably a game they need to go there.
02:29Do they even need to go and win at this stage of the season?
02:32To be honest, I kind of feel like that. Yeah. I mean, people might say that's getting a bit over the top.
02:36But I mean, that's the way I feel about it. I think if they'd have beaten Portsmouth, which obviously they should have done,
02:41let's be honest about it. Then you sat here on three points. You then go to West Brom away, which is a very difficult game.
02:46And there's a few things that worry me about this and stuff when I actually look through it and do a bit of a deeper dive on it.
02:51But actually, if you get three points against Portsmouth and then you go away to West Brom and you get a point,
02:55you're suddenly looking at four points out of six. You've ticked off one of the harder away games or, you know,
03:00well, it will be one of the hardest away games, I would have thought, West Brom away.
03:03And you sat there with four points out of six and you're thinking, you know, that's not too bad a start.
03:07But I mean, if they go there now and get a draw, suddenly it's two out of six and it's a bit like, you know, like it's not a fantastic start.
03:12And then obviously you've got to go to Sheffield Wednesday on the Friday night. And I mean, who's to say they'll win there?
03:17I mean, they look very, very good in the first game, admittedly, against a Plymouth side who didn't look very good at all.
03:23But I mean, so that'll be very difficult. And, you know, we talked about last season, the start of the season costing them two points out of nine.
03:30Well, I mean, if they don't get the right results in these next two, then they're going to be in the same boat, basically.
03:35And there were kind of excuses for it last summer in terms of, well, there were excuses for it last summer in terms of so many ins and outs and stuff.
03:41Well, outs really, you know, and people leaving left, right and centre. But it is a much more stable ship this year, notwithstanding the fact that they have lost, you know, the two best players in Somerville and Archie Gray.
03:50So, yeah, I mean, that's really why that Portsmouth game is so disappointing in terms of the outcome, because it's one you look at and think, you know, they had the performance and they had it there to have got three points.
04:02Because you suddenly then, you look at it and you remember, like, you think about all the tough games that are coming up in the Championship.
04:07So, this is a hard game against West Brom, very much so. You know, you keep an eye on the betting for the Championship, or I do anyway, all the time.
04:15And they massively slided out West Brom in the betting, because obviously, I think, you know, they've got financial issues and stuff and whatever.
04:21And there was talk about transfer embargo and this, that and the other. But they're still a very, very good side.
04:26And they obviously got off to a flying start. So, that's the first thing that worries me. Obviously, 3-1 win for them at QPR, Josh Madger-Hattrick.
04:32So, I mean, that's a striker who's still fairly young and has actually scored quite a few goals, like, relatively speaking, ratio-wise.
04:38So, I think he's the sort of player who could continue to step forward. So, he's the first thing you're going to have to worry about, 100%.
04:43The second thing that worries me is Carlos Corberin is a very, very good coach. Obviously, ex-Leeds and stuff, and someone who's been linked to a Leeds job before.
04:50And obviously, someone who everybody's got an awful lot of time and respect for and is a very, very good coach. They'll be so well drilled.
04:56They've got an extra day as well. And that might sound a small thing, but it's not. I don't think it is. I think it is a big thing in terms of the Leeds Cup games.
05:03Leeds, obviously, playing on Wednesday against Borough. West Brom playing on the Tuesday. So, they've got an extra day there.
05:08Leeds have to travel, obviously, as well. It's a lunchtime kick-off. And then you talk about last season as well.
05:13I mean, obviously, they got four points against Leeds. So, it's not like, you know, Leeds did well against them last season.
05:17And the teams haven't changed drastically that much. Obviously, they've lost a couple of players as well.
05:21But it's a very hard game. And one of those ones where I look at it and Leeds are odds on with some betting firms.
05:26And I'm quite surprised at that, really. I mean, they're about even money favourites. And I think that's a really, really hard game.
05:31So, there's a lot of aspects about this that worry me, to be honest. But I think if they do play, like they played against Portsmouth, you know,
05:37and ultimately take the chances, but also shore up at the back. I mean, they're all big ifs, aren't they?
05:42Then there's no doubt they can go there and win. But, you know, they've got good players.
05:47I mean, John Swift, again, another player that's been linked to Leeds before in previous years.
05:51Very, very good footballer. Alex Mowat's obviously still there, ex-Leeds. Just the sort of person you could see doing well against them.
05:58Obviously, Kyle Bartley, another ex-Leeds man. So, they're stacked out with, like, solid players.
06:03Where they're going to feature this season remains to be seen. They are still, you know, among the sort of favourites-ish, if you like.
06:11Certainly, I think, in terms of play-off mix. Obviously, Carlos will be hoping for more than that.
06:16It was interesting that he sort of talked about, you know, the financial difficulties they've got and saying, you know,
06:20it's not an excuse. We need to sort of rise above it and sort of come through it.
06:23And they certainly did that on the opening day of the season. So, that's a really, really hard game.
06:27No doubt about it. And, you know, two games into the season, it's a bit early to be saying, you know, it's must-win.
06:33You know, because I think it's only must-win when it's sort of like stuff starts getting literally mathematically out of reach.
06:38And, obviously, you're a million miles away from that at the moment. But it'll help everybody if Leeds go there and win.
06:42Obviously, it'll help Daniel Farker because, you know, he's not daft. He'll know the pressure of the job and stuff.
06:47And he'll know that, obviously, you know, managers quickly get under pressure, especially at a club like Leeds.
06:52And I spoke to him pre-season and he readily admitted himself. He said, we're always seen as favourites and the pressure is always on us to win.
06:58So, he'll know if they don't go there and win, obviously, your two games into the season without one, then, obviously, you know,
07:04the pressure starts cranking up and that, in turn, then makes the Sheffield Wednesday game even more important.
07:09So, it does already feel like a very, very big game. And, you know, sometimes with these games, not that it really matters
07:18because I don't think he's predicted Leeds three pots for free, but I don't think anybody did.
07:23But it's just one where I just I think it's really hard to call. It really is hard to call.
07:27I could see Leeds going in there and winning and just, you know, clicking and everything like clicking into gear and taking the chances.
07:32Equally, I could see them going there and getting beat, to be honest. So, I really don't know how it will go.
07:36And there was lots of away games they did last season where Leeds just fell apart early and it just didn't, you know, like,
07:41and then, obviously, it always looks a long way back. And that's another one of those ones where if West Brom score early,
07:45I'd be a bit like, you know, worried about how they react. So, I mean, the jury is still out, really, to be honest, it totally is.
07:51Obviously, yeah, they did fantastically well last season, 90 points, got to the playoff final.
07:55Obviously, lost that, but that was the end of it. But, I mean, they didn't get promoted at the end of the day.
08:00And, you know, if it had blitzed Portsmouth on the opening game, then I think you'd go into this a lot more confident.
08:05But because of that, it's only natural to have these sort of, like, worries about it.
08:08And, you know, I suppose the jury's out, really, and the proof will be in the pudding as to this one.
08:12Very, very hard game, full of respect for them and very hard to call.
08:16I'll go for a Leeds win, like, you know, maybe something like 1-0, but, I mean, it could be anything, to be honest.
08:20I don't know how you see it.
08:22Yeah, well, as you've quite rightly put, West Brom, you know, they're no slouches, are they?
08:27They're a decent side, and they will definitely be in amongst them this season, just like they were last season.
08:31So, Leeds have to be, you know, well, they have to play a really good game if they are going to get anything.
08:37I think you've had that sort of confidence knock in the first game, when you've scored three with a no,
08:44also let in three, and you're sort of thinking, oh, dear, like, what now, sort of thing.
08:49And then you go away from home to a decent side, having not beaten a side who's just come up from League One.
08:56You think, oh, gosh, what's going to happen now?
08:58So, yeah, it will be tough, but it's a big test of character for Leeds.
09:02And if they come through it with the right results, then that will perhaps set them up,
09:07and it'll vanquish the thought of what happened in that Adelsmith game, and they'll be playing Ceylon again.
09:13I think that's right.
09:14We should say also, like, in their defence, Leeds did have a very good record last season against the bigger sides, you know,
09:22but then again, by that, we're talking Leicester beating them home and away, beating Ipswich home and away,
09:27and whether West Brom are going to be a top-two team remains to be seen.
09:30I would think, looking at Burnley the other night, I'd be amazed if they're not top-two,
09:34as long as they don't lose all the players or whatever.
09:37They looked very, very good the other night.
09:39Obviously, Leeds are still favourites, so everybody's thinking, well, Leeds will be the other team in the top-two,
09:45but whether it ends up that way and whether Burnley do indeed get top-two remains to be seen.
09:49So, West Brom might not be an absolute key rival in terms of an automatic title,
09:54but who's to say they won't be?
09:56But Leeds did have a pretty good record in the bigger games last season,
09:59although obviously the biggest one of all, you know, the complete final.
10:04So, yeah, but then again, like I say, last season, they only got one point against them.
10:09So, that does, you know, I mean, you get teams that you have bad records against,
10:13and fair enough if it's 20 years ago, but it's not just last season.
10:16There's not an awful lot changed.
10:17Same managers still, largely the same players.
10:19So, it's a very, very hard game, and I wouldn't be at all surprised if they didn't win there,
10:23but let's hope they do.